Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

27 reviews

sophisticotton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I really can’t rate this book yet. What I can say is that it makes me think, I love the changing perspectives, and I think it belongs in a modern afro futurism course. Would love to see it taught in comparison with Chain Gang All Stars or Parable of the Sower. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Death of parent, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racism, Gun violence, Miscarriage, and Suicide attempt

jenna_justi2004's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Colonisation, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Slavery, Toxic relationship, War, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Torture, Confinement, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt

hanz's review

dark emotional slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, Confinement, Racism, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Grief

ceilidhwilliams's review

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Hate crime, Death of parent, Confinement, Racial slurs, and Racism

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide attempt, Violence, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Murder, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Blood, Cancer, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Cursing, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, and Misogyny

Minor: Drug use and Sexual violence

bandysbooks's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I heard about Riot Baby during a readathon that I was participating in. Previously, I was unfamiliar with this author and this work. I’m glad that’s changed though because I though this was such an interesting book.

Riot Baby follows two siblings, one of which was born during the Rodney King Riots. They are surrounded by a system that victimizes, criminalizes, and then incarcerates their peers. When they reach a breaking point, we start to see hints of powers they’ve both been containing. 

This is in some ways a dystopia, but in some ways it isn’t. We have a system that is set up to function against a certain group of people. The reason that I won’t call it an outright dystopia is because those injustices are just slight escalations of the things that already happen on a day to day basis in the states.

What’s most impressive about this book is how it can delve into such deep themes in such a short page count. It all made sense as written, but also left me wanting more of the story. All in all, a solid read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Racism, Violence, Blood, Classism, Police brutality, and Torture

honeyvoiced's review

challenging mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Police brutality and Confinement

Minor: Death of parent

cutlet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was my first audiobook and it was incredibly powerful to listen to the author read their story. This feels like it should be mandatory reading for all white people, to better understand Black history in the US and the intergenerational trauma it carries with it. The main characters absolutely pulled me in, but it was at times difficult to keep track of when and where something was happening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Colonisation, Murder, Slavery, Cancer, Classism, and Racial slurs

nettleviolet's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

I came into this book thinking it was more sci-fi and/or fantasy and there's some of these elements, but it more feels like magical realism until the very end, which introduces some sci-fi elements. I was also hoping for more revolution and I felt like the book was building towards it but never really gave me the catharsis I thought I would get.

However, though this was not what I expected, I really liked this book. The prose was riveting and brilliant and I read the book in one session (which was not hard because it's quite short, only 172 pages). 

The book primarily focuses on two siblings, Kev and Ella, and their experience of being Black, and dealing with incarceration and the experience of being Black in a world where the police kill Black people regularly. Ella has magic powers, but they feel less fantasy-esque and more magical realism -- a device for telling the story of how they each navigate Kev's incarceration and the outside world of police violence. 

Towards the end

when Kev is released back into the outside world

we do see a lot more sci-fi elements added in, but they definitely didn't define the world for 85% of the book. 

Overall, this book is raw and real and I cried several times, and was confronted by my privilege walking through the world as a white person. If you're looking for a fantasy/sci-fi novel, I would not recommend this. However, as a magical realism literary fiction, 100% read this! (and if you're white, you should just read this no matter what you're looking for). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Death of parent

city_girl_writer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

My brain is trying to process everything that I just read. At first, I thought it was just a SFF book, but as I continue to listen, I realized this book is more like a dystopian novel. I have not read dystopian novels since I was in middle school (mid-2010s), so I was shocked. The social commentary is top notch!! Despite it being a novella, it fits everything together and I didn't miss anything. The siblings, Kev and Ella, are fully-realized characters who are angry in their own way. I wish I could recommend this to everyone, but I cannot. The subject matter is dark, and there are many content warnings as well. Please tread with caution.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Miscarriage, Slavery, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer